Hard Starting and Black Smoke...both FIXED!!!

[DelicaMark]

Follow-up to my hard starting and black smoke issues:

I took my van over to CVI Auto in Richmond based on a recommendation from MardyDelica (thank you Mardy!!!). For $300 I had Butch and Edwin do the "Delica Tune". I must admit I was a little sceptical going into this. I was finding it hard to believe that the Delica Tune was going to fix my hard starting problems and black smoke issues.

The Results of the Delica Tune:

-100% improvement in starting....it started in the cold and after leaving for close to 14 hours.
-100% improvement in black smoke....there is ZERO smoke even if I really giver. If you have any smoke then you have too much.
-100% improvement in rattling diesel engine noise....this was a total bonus. I had no idea how loud my engine was and how quiet it could be.

Edwin showed me what he was doing and brought me out each time he found something out of whack.

Things that he found that were out of whack:

-Injection pumping was not just off but it was off by an entire tooth! How this happened is unclear. [Just a reminder to the readers of this. I had my timing checked and adjusted last week by a shop in Victoria yet the timing was very obviously done wrong or at least in a manner that was incomplete. That is all I will say in the subject other than please please check out the shop that you trust your van to. It is very possible to do irreversible damage to these if things are not done correctly. I will gladly discuss this offline with anyone who is interested.]

-Injectors required close to 20psi to spray fuel and when they did spray it was soooo bad! For the record 20 psi is waaaay too much pressure.

I can't help but think that my fuel economy is going to get better from this. It is likely impossible that it won't get measurably better.

A huge thanks to MardyDelica for putting me into contact with CVI, Mardy gets no money from CVI and he still met me there and talked to me and supported me and my van even though I didn't buy it from him. The guys at CVI really know what they are doing with these vans. Experts in the field of Delicas would be a huge understatement. Butch and Edwin are certified Mitsubishi mechanic from the Philippines and from what I can see they have skills well beyond the Delica. Race tuning and engine development should also be added to the list of their skills. CVI is a one stop shop that does everything from filter changes (at a great price) to injector cleaning with their ultra-sonic cleaner to engine replacements. These guys can do it all in one shop.

After having this tune done I now see that any and all quick fixes that I tried made little or no effect on the starting issues and black smoke. I blanked the EGR valve with no real measurable changes. I turned down the full load adjustment on the injection pump with no change to the smoke other than less power overall. I ran the best injector cleaners through the system with no improved results. I changed the glow plugs. In all I likely have spent close to $600 trying to get these two issues fixed and I hate to guess how much time I spent.

My recommendation for all Delica owners is to take their van to CVI for the Delica Tune by Butch and Edwin. This will be the best $300 that you ever spend on your van. Even if you don't have any major issues, your van will come back running as it did when it was new. You don't know how good these vans can run.

I AM NOT GETTING PAID TO SAY ANY OF THIS!

-Mark

[JMK]

I'm envious, sounds like your all set now. I did chuckle over the hard start in 'cold weather' after starting my Delica at -26 C yesterday. This morning when it was -10 it fired up like it was in the tropics.

However it paid me back by failing inspection today due to a loose tie rod end.

[mdrive]

Butch and Edwin in CVI are very knowledgeable and friendly. We service all our vehicles from that shop and very satisfied with the service. CVI helps us to sell well serviced vehicle which makes our customer happy.

[DelicaMark]

I hear you JMK! We here on the coast just about die when it gets coooold! -4C in Duncan this morning....my fingers almost fell off.

As for CVI and Mardy, I really can't say enough good things about these guys. Great service and great work. They even fed me donuts last weekend while I was waiting.

-Mark

[cordom]

Had the same problem in cold weather,i did not feel good polluting the air first thing in the
morning, so bit the bullet and made a appointment with cvi garage in richmond,what a difference,
wished i would have done it sooner,plus cvi garage is a great find for servicing my delica,the service friendly , no pressure and the rates are very reasonable which helps owning a 15 year
old imported van.

Dom

[jcolvin]

Ok, but when starting from cold first thing do you still get black smoke? Mine never smokes when warm, not even a little, even going up hills, but there's always a big cloud of smoke first thing in the morning after sitting overnight. It always starts up fine, just a little rough and smokey for the first 10 seconds or so until all cylinders are firing nicely.

Jonathan Colvin
Richmond

[dmg]

We got lucky with our Delica. Mardy arranged for it to be taken to CVI before we picked it up. Everything has been perfect since day one.

[Jester]

you know, I've been reading about hard starting issues and smoking, and couldn't figure it out, because my Deli never had any such issues..However, it was serviced by Edwin BEFORE I picked it up from Mardy, so tat explains things
It's nice to have a friendly shop which knows our cars inside and out, and can do good job at good rate.
And it's nice that Mardy ALWAYS steers not only his customers, but even COMPETING DEALERS in their direction :)

[cordom]

Jonathon,now when i start from cold there is no black or white smoke,i also had a big cloud of smoke in the morning which use to drift towards the neighbours,had no complaints but it felt the right thing to do.

dominic

[turf'd]

I'm taking my Delica in soon to have an inline coolant heater installed. I figure I might as well get a tune up out of it as well. What sort of things would you recommend (that your tune up involved) to be checked aside from the injection timing and the injection pressure? Were your glow plugs okay? What kind of oil are you using? What belts did they need to tighten? Were your engine mounts okay?

Sorry about all the questions, I just wouldn't mind having some ideas about things to look at when it goes in to the shop. (and I'm nowhere near the coast, so I won't be able to pop by for the special tune up...)

Cheers

[JMK]

If you can, take your digicam with you and get some pic's while they are installing it. When I've been crawling around underneath I've been wondering where a suitable install point may be located.

[turf'd]

If you can, take your digicam with you and get some pic's while they are installing it. When I've been crawling around underneath I've been wondering where a suitable install point may be located.

I'll try to get a pic of where the coolant heater went for you, just need to crawl under there and have a look.

[JMK]

That would be great, I've got one sitting here but I took one look underneath and quickly gave up. Also the amount of squealing that the water pump is doing when it starts cold means that it needs to get the waterpump/timing belt job done asap so I thought it could be done then.

Do you know if they needed any extra parts that did not come with the heater? Mine came with a Y fitting, some hose clamps, a drain plug adapter and 2 1/4"-20 nut and a bolt. It is for 5/8" hose so I suppose the problem would be if the Deli hose is not the same size.

Thanks for that.

[jcolvin]

Follow-up to my hard starting and black smoke issues:

Things that he found that were out of whack:

-Injection pumping was not just off but it was off by an entire tooth! How this happened is unclear. [Just a reminder to the readers of this. I had my timing checked and adjusted last week by a shop in Victoria yet the timing was very obviously done wrong or at least in a manner that was incomplete. That is all I will say in the subject other than please please check out the shop that you trust your van to. It is very possible to do irreversible damage to these if things are not done correctly. I will gladly discuss this offline with anyone who is interested.]

-Injectors required close to 20psi to spray fuel and when they did spray it was soooo bad! For the record 20 psi is waaaay too much pressure.

I AM NOT GETTING PAID TO SAY ANY OF THIS!

-Mark

So the $300 included ultrasonic injector cleaning? Or was that extra?

cheers,

Jonathan

[MardyDelica]

Hi, thats include ultra cleaning for your injector, its clean the gum & varnish of your injector & set it in the proper pressure as most of our delica were never been service in japan since new. as its expensive over to do this kind of service.
they do this one all the time in the phils as they own a shop specially for diesel injection pump service. they know what they doing, they are used to it with this type of diesel engine as we got lots of this jap. engine back home in the phils.
pls dont worry they do good job & with warrantty. ask our fellow delica owner who went there for service. result is happy & do a very good job for your delica & thats the most important thing.
pls dont worry;
Cheers;
Mardy